We danced anyway
by x.xOracles.Shadowx.x
Summary: Teddy Lupin discovers his family's most well known secret. RemusXSirius songfic! Don't like, don't read. P Just a cute one shot I came up with one day while studying. AN: Wrong artist name within the story! Song is by Deanna Carter, not Deanna Lewis.


AN: Just getting it out of the way now, I own nothing whatsoever. This is for purely entertainment purposes, and no money is being made off of this. Dude, if I owned Remus and Sirius, the entire series would have ended differently.

Just a song fic/ one shot that's been kicking around my USB for a bit, and I figured I might as well put it where people can read it. xD A SiriusXRemus fic because, aside from HP/DM, they were my favorite part of the entire franchise. (Remus is made of awesome, and Sirius, to risk sounding like the fangirl I am, is hot as hell, and we all adore him.)

I was never fond of the whole 'Tonks/Remus' thing. It just seemed like a cop out to me. I mean, Rowling killed off Sirius (which was a crime in itself), and has his cousin hook up with his best friend by the end of the novel. Do I need to connect the dots for you? Oh well. We who could read between the lines know the truth. =D I'm also taking extensive liberties with Remus and Tonks' deaths, considering I've never read the seventh book, so I have no idea how they died. I'm taking educated guesses on the years as well. Teddy is also a complete unknown to me, so if he's completely off, I apologize. I'll be coming back later to fix any grammar/spelling mistakes, but feel free to point them out.

The song used is 'We danced anyway' by Deanna Lewis, which I also do not own and am not making any profit off. Without further ado, enjoy. =) Review if you like, but remember that flames will be used to make smores. =)____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

20 year old Teddy Lupin trudged up the staircase to his grandmother's attic with a heavy heart. Andromeda Tonks' funeral had just ended, and it was the time Teddy had been dreading; sorting through her belongings. His godfather had offered to help, but Teddy refused. He and his grandmother had been inseparable for his entire life. Allowing someone to go through her belongings seemed like a slap to the face.

An hour into cleaning, the young Auror found a long hidden binder with the words 'The Marauders – Messrs. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs. Gone, but not forgotten.' The words were a knife to the 20 year old's already broken heart. His parents had died in the final battle with Voldemort, and his father had been the last of Hogwarts' infamous Marauders, still revered amongst the students almost half a century later.

He got comfortable on the attic floor, covered in dust, and shook his hair out of his eyes. His grandmother had always loved her grandson's natural dark blond hair, a final gift from his father, she'd always said. He couldn't think of having it any other way during his final goodbye to her. He opened the binder, and came face to face with a picture of four young men, each of whom he recognized. His eyes lingered over his father's smiling face and a tear slid from his eye onto the magicked picture.

It was dated as 1977, three years before Harry was born, and two years before the world of the Marauders was brought crashing down around them with the murder of Lily and James, the faked death of the rat bastard Pettigrew, and the arrest of Sirius. He saw the lights in the background, and saw written under the picture in a writing he knew wasn't his grandmother's,

'The Marauders. 11 years and still kicking ass!', and in a different hand, it read,

'RIP - S.B & R.L. True Love, even from beyond the grave'

The 20 year old's eye brow shot up. Those were his father's initials, but S.B weren't his mother's. He saw the arm that was wrapped around his father's neck, and saw the face of Sirius Black, the falsely accused murderer of James and Lily Potter, loving god father to Harry, and still the most widely admired sex symbol in Hogwarts history, smiling at the camera, with his head perched on Remus' shoulder.

Shaking off the epiphany he felt but was in no way ready for, Teddy turned the picture to find a magicked banner displaying the words, 'The Marauders Take Paris! Celebrating Jamie's death as a single man!' For the pages after, Teddy was taken through the trip of the Marauders to Paris for James' bachelor party before his marriage to Lily. One picture was of James and Sirius, leaning against a railing and laughing, followed by the caption, 'Padfoot and Prongs – Brothers to the bone' written in his father's hand.

Another was of Remus holding an impossibly scruffy black dog in his arms, grinning at the camera. He saw the parties, the tears of laughter and happiness, and he could see his father's joy at being surrounded by his friends. All the exhaustion he'd seen on his father's face in every other picture he saw of him was no where to be seen, and Teddy felt vaguely jealous of the Marauders for being able to put such happiness on his father's face.

Reaching the end of the album, he found a picture that made his heart stop in his chest. The banner was a simple one, and Teddy could no longer hold back the epiphany. It read 'Remus & Sirius – Puppy Love at its finest, for a decade. Happy 10 year anniversary!'

Teddy sat back and watched in amazement as the image of his father wrapped in another man's arms, dancing to a song Teddy couldn't hear, but knew the words by watching his father sing to Sirius.

_Summer air was heavy and sweet  
__You and I on a crowded street  
__There was music everywhere  
__I can see us there_

_In a happy little foreign town  
__Where the stars hung upside down  
__A half a world away  
__Far, far away  
__I remember, you were laughing.  
__We were so in love, we were so in love_

_And the band played  
__Songs that we had never heard  
__But we danced anyway  
__We never understood the words  
__We just sang on  
__La la la la la la la la la laa  
__And we danced anyway._

He watched as the music halted, and Sirius pulled his father in to what Teddy could only describe as the most loving kiss the 20 year old had ever seen. The Animagus took over the song, and lead his father around the dance floor, his eyes never leaving Remus' as they moved. The image of the Eiffel tower came into view, and Teddy saw the sickle moon float mystically behind the dancing couple.

_Well they say you can't go back  
__Well baby, I don't believe that  
__Come along with me  
__Come on and dance with me_

_Oh baby, if I hold you close  
__Maybe we could just let go  
__Of these things that tie us down  
__We'll come back around. _

_You remember, we were laughing.  
__We were so in love, so in love.  
__And the band played  
__Songs that we had never heard  
__But we danced anyway_

_We never understood the words  
__We just sang on  
__La la la la la la la la la la la  
__And we danced anyway._

_You remember, we were laughing  
__We were so in love, we were so in love  
__And the band played  
__Songs that we had never heard  
__But we danced anyway_

_We never understood the words  
__We just sang on  
__La la la la la la la la la la la  
__Oh whoa  
__Ohhhh_

_And we danced anyway  
__Oh we were laughing...  
__We danced anyway.  
__We were laughing.  
__We danced anyway._

The dance continued on and Teddy thought back over his life. Everything made sense. Why Harry would never discuss his godfather around his own godson, and why his grandmother would always change the subject if Teddy asked about his parents.

This was why. His parents weren't the happily married couple he'd always thought they were. He remembered Harry telling him that his parents had gotten together after Sirius' death in the Ministry, and he no longer wondered why.

He watched as his father kissed the man he was obviously, hopelessly in love with, and wondered how he'd never pieced it together before. He heard footsteps behind him, coming up the stairs, and saw the messed hair of his godfather appear. Harry saw the shocked look on his godson's face, and then the photo album, and sighed.

"I'd hoped to get that before you saw." Harry admitted quietly, sitting next to his godson.

"You knew? The whole time?" Teddy asked softly, unable to decide if he was upset or simply confused over what he'd just learned about his father.

"I did. Sirius told me." Harry answered. "Teddy, your father loved you so much."

"But he didn't love my mum. He loved Sirius, until his dying day, didn't he?"

"Yes. They had planned to be bonded before Voldemort killed my parents. You have to understand, Teddy. Your mum loved Remus with all her heart, and it broke Remus to shatter her dream by telling her that his heart had died with Sirius, but he could never lead someone on like that. Your mum understood, but she didn't give up. She was never bitter towards Sirius' memory, but the constant reminder of what he had, even beyond the grave, hurt her."

"Do you think they're together? Grandma Lily, Grandpa James, Dad, Sirius? Do you think they're together, somewhere, celebrating like they did in Paris?"

"That thought was all that kept me going long enough to defeat Voldemort." Harry sighed. "Teddy, you know I love you with all my heart, but I have to admit, I never agreed with Remus' decision to marry your mother. I loved your mother, and Remus, don't get me wrong. But I also knew that Remus' heart only kept beating, day in and day out, for me, for the war, and for the hope of seeing Voldemort dead and Pettigrew punished for what he did to my parents and Sirius. When he married your mother, and when you were born, he found another reason to go on living, and he held on to it until his final minutes."

"You were there when he died?" Teddy asked.

"I was." Harry nodded. There were nights when all he could see in his sleep was a slide show of both Sirius and Remus' deaths. "Your mum had died by now, and Remus was mortally injured. He told me to take care of you, to be the Godfather Sirius had always wanted to be for me. He said to give his best to everyone, and told me that if anyone could find the strength to face and defeat Voldemort, it was me. He told me to be strong.

When I begged him not to leave, he just kind of laughed, and said, 'Harry, I would stay if I could. Look after Teddy for me, tell him everyday that I loved him with everything in my heart... I promise, I'll always be by your side, with James and Lily, and Dumbledore, and Sirius... You won't fight alone, I swear to you. But I can't stay any longer... I've fought for so long. I need rest. And you may not be able to see him, but I can... Sirius is waiting for me, just beyond the light. He's crying, telling me the pain will be over soon... Harry, he's waiting with James and Lily... They're cheering for you, and Lily is telling you to be careful, be strong, that she loves you... James is crying, he misses you so much, and he's so proud of you... You can win this, Harry. We all believe in you.' He died seconds after saying that." Harry looked as though he were going to cry, and he suddenly dug into his back pocket. "Since you already know about the album, there's something I should give you."

Teddy held out his hand, and Harry placed two platinum rings in his hand. Inscribed on both were the sayings, ' Sirius & Remus'. The sheer reality of the situation smacked Teddy across the face, and he realized he was okay with it. At least he knew now.

"These were their rings?" Teddy asked, receiving a nod.

"This one is Sirius'." Harry explained, indicating the ring with a black line etched around the outside. "Narcissa Malfoy actually gave it to your grandmother after the final battle, told her to give it to you when you were old enough. Andromeda gave it to me shortly before she died."

"Why did great aunt Cissa have it?"

"Bellatrix found it after the Ministry battle and kept it as a souvenir of killing Sirius, as well as a personal attack on Remus." Harry scowled in disgust of the other Black sister. "Bellatrix apparently had it on her when she died, and Narcissa took it back to make sure it got to you."

"And what about Dad's? I've never seen it." Teddy asked, the ring in his hand.

"It was in Sirius' room at Grimmauld Place. I found it when I was stuck there over the summer, on house arrest." An ironic smile twisted his face. "I asked Remus about it, and Remus said, that, shortly after my mum and dad's murder and Sirius' arrest, he'd snuck into Grimmauld place and put the ring in Sirius' room. It hurt him too much to have that symbol of what they'd shared when to everyone it seemed like it had all been a lie. I asked if he wanted it back, and he took out the chain you see around his neck here" Harry pointed to the picture of Remus and Sirius dancing, indicating to the white gold chain around the werewolf's neck. "And wore it again. Your mother wasn't pleased, but it was what Remus needed to do to help himself heal, I think."

"And before Dad died, he gave it to you to give to me?" A lump had formed in Teddy's throat, and tears were gathering in his eyes.

"That's right. Your parents might not have been what you thought they were, Teddy, but to both of them, you were their world." Harry told him.

"I wish I had known them... But I'm glad my dad had a time in his life when he was loved like this, and that he was happy... I can't tell you how much it killed me to think he'd always been as exhausted and worn down as he looked in all of the pictures around here." Teddy smiled.

"Are you okay with all of this?" Harry asked.

"It's a shock... But I can't say it bothers me. Like I said, I'm happy my dad knew true love. Although, now I'm going to have another reason to feel awkward the next time someone says I'm just like my father." Teddy let out a bark like laugh, and Harry smiled, thinking to himself,

'Remus, he may be Tonks' son, but he's you and Sirius, through and through.'

He and Teddy sat in the attic, him sharing stories Teddy had never heard about the Marauders with his godson. That evening, the two went to the graveyard in Godric's Hollow where the Marauders had finally been laid to rest, conjuring a headstone for Sirius and Remus' graves, which had been laid side by side, and remained unmarked since the war.

It read simply,

'R.I.P. Remus Lupin & Sirius Black  
The song of their lives was a long one, but they danced anyway.  
True love never dies.'

FIN


End file.
